Cosi fan tutte, ossia La scuola
degli amanti (Thus Do They All, or The School for Lovers) is an
Italian-language opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first
performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte.

Cosi fan tutte is one of
the three Mozart operas for which Da Ponte wrote the libretto. The other two Da
Ponte-Mozart collaborations were Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni.

Although it is commonly held that Cosi fan
tutte was written and composed at the suggestion of the Emperor Joseph
II, recent research does not support this idea. There is evidence that Mozart's
contemporary Antonio Salieri tried to set the libretto but left it unfinished.
In 1994, John Rice uncovered two terzetti by Salieri in the Austrian National
Library.

The title, Cosi fan tutte, literally means "Thus do all [women]" but it is
often rendered as "Women are like that". The words are sung by the three men in
act 2, scene 3, just before the finale. Da Ponte had used the line "Cosi fan
tutte le belle" earlier in Le nozze di Figaro (in act 1, scene 7).

The first performance of Mozart's setting took place at the
Burgtheater in Vienna on January 26, 1790. It was given only five times before
the run was stopped by the death of the Emperor Joseph II and the resulting
period of court mourning. It was performed twice in June 1790, with the composer
conducting the second performance, and again in July (twice) and August (once).
After that it was not played in Vienna during Mozart's lifetime. The first
British performance was in May 1811, at the King's Theatre, London. Cosi fan
tutte was not performed in the U.S. until 1922, when it was given at the
Metropolitan Opera

According to William Mann, Mozart disliked prima donna Adriana Ferrarese del
Bene, da Ponte's arrogant mistress for whom the role of Fiordiligi had been
created. Knowing her idiosyncratic tendency to drop her chin on low notes and
throw back her head on high ones, Mozart filled her showpiece aria Come scoglio
with constant leaps from low to high and high to low in order to make
Ferrarese's head "bob like a chicken" onstage.

The subject matter (see synopsis below) did not offend Viennese sensibilities
of the time, but throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries it was considered
risqué. The opera was rarely performed, and when it did appear it was presented
in one of several bowdlerised libretti.

After World War II, it regained its place in the standard operatic
repertoire. It is frequently performed and appears as number eleven on the
Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.

Louis Nowra uses the staging of Cosi fan tutte in a mental hospital as a
background for his 1992 play Cosi.

Scene 1:
A coffeehouseIn a cafe, Ferrando and Guglielmo (two officers) express
certainty that their fiancées (Dorabella and Fiordiligi, respectively) will be
eternally faithful. Don Alfonso joins the discussion and lays a wager with the
two officers, claiming he can prove in a day's time that these two, like all
women, are fickle. The wager is accepted: the two officers will pretend to have
been called off to war; soon thereafter they will return in disguise and each
attempt to seduce the other's lover. The scene shifts to the two women, who are
praising their men. Alfonso arrives to announce the bad news: the officers have
been called off to war. Ferrando and Guglielmo arrive, brokenhearted, and bid
farewell (quintet: Sento, o Dio, che questo piede è restio—"I feel, oh God, that
my foot is reluctant"). As the boat with the men sails off to sea, Alfonso and
the sisters wish them safe travel (trio: Soave sia il vento—"May the wind be
gentle"), then Alfonso, left alone, gloatingly predicts that the women (like all
women) will prove unfaithful. (arioso: Oh, poverini, per femmina giocare cento
zecchini?—"Oh, poor little ones, to wager 100 sequins on a woman").

Scene 2: A room in the sisters' home

Despina, the maid, arrives and asks what is wrong. Dorabella bemoans the
torment of having been left alone (aria: Smanie implacabili—"Torments
implacable"). Despina mocks the sisters, advising them to take new lovers while
their betrotheds are away (aria: In uomini, in soldati, sperare fedeltà?—"In
men, in soldiers, you hope for faithfulness?"). After they leave, Alfonso
arrives. He fears Despina will recognize the men through their disguises, so he
bribes her into helping him to win the bet. The two men then arrive, dressed as
mustachioed Albanians. The sisters enter and are alarmed by the presence of
strange men in their home. The "Albanians" tell the sisters that they were led
by love to them (the sisters). However, the sisters refuse to give in to them.
Fiordiligi asks the "Albanians" to leave their home, and pledges to remain
faithful. (aria: Come scoglio—"Like a rock"). The "Albanians" continue the
attempt to win over the sisters' hearts, Guglielmo going so far as to point out
all of his manly attributes (aria: Non siate ritrosi—"Don't be shy"), but to no
avail. Ferrando, left alone and sensing victory, praises his love (aria: Un'aura
amorosa—"A loving breath").

Scene 3: A garden

The sisters are still pining. Despina has asked Don Alfonso to let her take
over the seduction plan—and suddenly, the "Albanians" burst in the scene and
threaten to poison themselves if they are not allowed the chance to woo the
sisters. As Alfonso tries to calm them, they drink the "poison" and pretend to
pass out. Soon thereafter, a doctor (Despina in disguise) arrives on the scene,
and, using magnet therapy, is able to revive the "Albanians". The men,
pretending to hallucinate, demand a kiss of the goddesses who stand before them.
The sisters refuse, even as Alfonso and the doctor (Despina) urge them to
acquiesce.

Act 2

Scene 1: The sisters' bedroom

Despina urges them to succumb to the "Albanians"' overtures (aria: Una donna
a quindici anni—"A fifteen year old woman"). After she leaves, Dorabella
confesses to Fiordiligi that she is tempted, and the two agree that a mere
flirtation will do no harm and will help them pass the time while they wait for
their lovers to return (duet: Prenderò quel brunettino"—"I will take the dark
one").

Scene 2: The garden

Dorabella and the disguised Guglielmo pair off, as do the other two. The
conversation is haltingly uncomfortable, and Ferrando departs with Fiordiligi.
Now alone, Guglielmo attempts to woo Dorabella. She does not resist strongly,
and soon she has given him a medallion (with Ferrando's portrait inside) in
exchange for a heart-shaped locket (duet: Il core vi dono—"I give you my
heart"). Ferrando is less successful with Fiordiligi (Ferrando's aria: Ah, lo
veggio—"Ah, I see it," and Fiordiligi's aria: Per pietà, ben mio,
perdona—"Please, my beloved, forgive"), so he is enraged when he later finds out
from Guglielmo that the medallion with his portrait has been so quickly given
away to a new lover. Guglielmo at first sympathises with Ferrando (aria: Donne
mie, la fate a tanti—"My ladies, you do it to so many") but then gloats, because
his betrothed is faithful.

Scene 3: The sisters' room

Dorabella admits her indiscretion to Fiordiligi (È amore un ladroncello—"Love
is a little thief"). Fiordiligi, upset by this development, decides to go to the
army and find her betrothed. Before she can leave, though, Ferrando arrives and
continues his attempted seduction. Fiordiligi finally succumbs and falls into
his arms (duet: Fra gli amplessi—"In the embraces"). Guglielmo is distraught
while Ferrando turns Guglielmo's earlier gloating back on him. Alfonso, winner
of the wager, tells the men to forgive their fiancées. After all: Così fan
tutte—"All women are like that."

Scene 4:

The scene begins as a double wedding for the sisters and their "Albanian"
grooms. Despina, in disguise as a notary, presents the marriage contract, which
all sign. Directly thereafter, military music is heard in the distance,
indicating the return of the officers. Alfonso confirms the sisters' fears:
Ferrando and Guglielmo are on their way to the house. The "Albanians" hurry off
to hide (actually, to change out of their disguises). They return as the
officers, professing their love. Alfonso drops the marriage contract in front of
the officers, and, when they read it, they become enraged. They then depart and
return moments later, half in Albanian disguise, half as officers. Despina has
been revealed to be the notary, and the sisters realize they have been duped.
All is ultimately forgiven, as the entire group praises the ability to accept
life's unavoidable good times and bad times.